Trichster A documentary about the impulse control disorder Trichotillomania - page 3

On May 18th, 2014 Trichster successfully completed our third crowdfunding campaign. This means that to date, we’ve raised a little over $30,000 for our documentary. Considering how this project started, that figure is incredible. It shows us that we’re not alone in our desire to raise awareness of trichotillomania (a hair-pulling disorder). It shows us that people all over the world are in support of our project and the hard work that we have all put in to create this film. It has made us forever thankful to the hundreds of individuals who are making this film possible by their continued support.

It’s really incredible what we’ve been able to accomplish on such a small budget with five first-time independent filmmakers. We found amazing people who were willing to share their stories with the world, flew across the country and even to London to film with them, and made incredible life-long friends in the process. We still have a ways to go in order to finish the film, but it’s a bit surreal knowing that the production process has come and gone; I never imagined the film would garner as much attention as it has.

Trichster started as a simple idea. For years I had wanted to make a film about Trichotillomania after watching a childhood friend live with it. A few years ago I met my friend Amanda (at the time a writer/producer for VH1) for a drink in the Lower East Side and told her I had been contemplating shooting some interviews about trich. I was surprised at how interested she was in helping and before I knew it the two of us were in Union Square asking people what they knew and thought about trich. We had two cameras and a microphone. Embarrassingly, we were fairly new to our equipment and didn’t really know what we were doing but I think we both had a pretty good time figuring it out. As it turned out, almost no one knew the word Trichotillomania, but most people knew someone who pulled out their hair. We were on to something.

We enlisted the help of three other friends in the industry and just like that we had a team of creative professionals who were all invested in this single idea. Ultimately, it was pretty incredible how we came together- two producers, two camera gurus, and a director, all with a shared passion. It was difficult trying to schedule shoots; we all worked full time and often worked late hours, making it tough for the five of us to be in one place at the same time. When we were able to get together, however, we collaborated well and really pushed each other to explore all of our options as novice, zero budget filmmakers.

The first step was raising some money so that we could rent extra equipment and cars to go to New Jersey (where some of our cast lives), and travel to the Trichotillomania retreat. I was completely petrified. We really needed $10,000 to get started. Who was going to give us this money? Where was this all going to come from? After a leap of faith, we launched a Kickstarter campaign in hopes that complete strangers would care enough about our project to help fund it. Donations came pouring in. By the end of the first day we were 20% funded and receiving large donations from people all over the world who we had never even met. My confidence soared.

This new support came with a plethora of new responsibilities. I was no longer only obligated to myself to make the film, but to the 169 backers who believed in me and our team. Suddenly our “little side project” was not so little. I had to finish the film and do my best lest I let people down. We started getting press. People wanted to be involved. Emails from our website filled my inbox and I rushed to answer all of them. We branched out and started to shoot in higher-profile locations which cost extra money and time. We ran another crowdfunding campaign, this time with the startup company Seed&Spark. The release of our first trailer got us a bunch of new hits and to date has over 30,000 views on Youtube.

In April of 2013 I experienced one of the proudest moments of my life. With the money that we raised we were able to book 5 hotel rooms, hire 5 new crew members, and bring four cast members together for the Trichotillomania Learning Center conference in New Jersey. I rented a giant van and bravely faced the streets of Manhattan to pick up hundreds of pounds of rental equipment and drive a car full of people through the Lincoln Tunnel towards Newark airport. For three days we shot in three places at once with two full camera crews and a hallway “confessional” booth. I never sat down. My nerves were high. What if people were upset we were shooting? What if we couldn’t get the needed releases? How do you negotiate a location agreement with a hotel that requires a million dollar insurance policy for film crews? Thankfully, our team was able to pull it off. On the last day of the conference, the crew was upstairs making sure we had all of our equipment together and checking out of the rooms while I said goodbye to some of the new friends I had made in the trichotillomania community. Though I had only known them a short time, I felt this incredible connection to them and really struggled leaving them. We drove two cars of crew back to the city and dropped off all the equipment. When I got back to my apartment I broke down in tears. The realization that my dream was coming true was overwhelming. We had done it! Months of planning and a year of shooting had panned out well and we had really been able to accomplish this, all while having full time jobs. I was so grateful for the team that made it happen and for the people of the trich community who had let us into their lives and accepted us. Rebecca Brown, one of the cast members in our film, was staying with me at the time. She quietly approached me and asked me if I was alright, if I needed a hug. I started laughing.

Having just completed our third crowdfunding campaign, that overwhelming feeling is back. Everything we’ve done over the past three years has been steadily building and I can feel the finish line approaching. We are so close to being finished with the edit of the film. I’ve spent the last 10 months editing the footage and crafting it to tell an honest story about people who I’ve grown to really care for. I can’t wait to finally watch it on a big screen.

So what’s next? Talented friends I’ve made in New York are generously donating much of their time to help finish the film. We have an incredible composer who is at this very moment writing music to match our picture. Our graphic designer and brilliant color corrector will be working nights and weekends to make Trichster look incredible. Our talented audio mixer will bring the sound and music together and make it sound awesome. Once all these elements come together, we’ll have a finished film!

The next thing the Trichster team is tackling: film festivals. None of us have much experience with film festivals, so there’s a learning curve. We’ll be budgeting the remaining funds to go towards applications and deliverables. As soon as we figure out when and where we’ll be screening, you’ll be the first to know! Words cannot express how thankful I am to everyone who has followed us, contributed to our campaign and supported out film. You are all a huge part of Trichster. I so look forward to sharing our “little film” with all of you, and look forward to seeing what the future holds for us.

After going back and forth about it for months, I’ve decided to leave my job and work on Trichster full time. After wrapping up some shooting in New York in August, I’ll be doing a bit of traveling, including a stop in London to shoot with Rebecca one last time, and then it’s off to California where I will focus on editing the film down from 250 hours to an hour and a half.

It was a really difficult decision to make, but ultimately I feel that it is best for myself and the film. Trichster has become more important to me than I could ever have imagined, and I want to devote my time to trying to deliver to you the best film I possibly can.

While I’m in California, the rest of the Trichster creative team will remain in New York doing any pick up shoots we may need. I’ll be back and forth a bit for the final finishing, and we hope to have our first screening in the New York area.

There’s still a lot to be done and we have months of brutal work ahead of us, but we’re so excited to finally be headed into post production!

I want to thank you for all of your continued support. You all are the reason that we’ve gotten as far as we have and we’re so excited for the next step! Please continue to follow us and re-post our facebook statuses and tweets! The more followers we have, the more places we will be able to screen the final film.

It’s been just about a month since Trichster went to the TLC Conference and it’s high time we gave you an update!

To begin, it took the Trichster team months and months of planning to shoot the conference. We had to fly Rebecca in from London, hire extra crew to help, book rooms, rent equipment and cars, coordinate with TLC, decide who to film, how to film, and, most importantly, how to keep tack of over 500 people at a conference when many could not be on camera! Planning was definitely a challenge but in the end we pulled it off.

Rebecca flew into New York on the 5th of April and stayed with Jillian for the majority of the time. It was fun living as “flat mates” but we were all sad to see her fly home at the end of the month.

Sophie and Rebecca attended the conference in its entirety while Valerie and Jessie both came on Saturday for afternoon sessions. We filmed some really beautiful moments and were so happy to be able to attend! We also set up a “confessional booth” while at the conference and spoke to some really amazing people- the material looks awesome.

More important than the actual shooting, it was so nice to feel such an amazing connection to the members of the trich community. Trichster saw some familiar faces they met while shooting at the retreat back in September and met many new people along the way. It is very rare to feel so welcomed among strangers and to feel like family within a matter of minutes. It’s incredible what TLC has been able to accomplish with such little staff. We loved every minute that we spent at the conference and were sad to say goodbye.

We have some very busy months ahead. We still have a handful of shoots left before we dive face-first into the editing process. For now, Jillian has started going through the 170+ hours of footage and organizing everything. This is a giant process and documentary editing can take years! Trichster is also starting to apply for grants. We will need funding for post-production, festival entry, and marketing materials. Film making is very expensive!

Thank you all so much for your continued support. What started out a year and a half ago as a “girl with a camera” has grown into so much more than any of us could ever have anticipated. We can’t wait to fill you in on the next leg of our journey.

Since wrapping our Seed and Spark campaign at 126% funding the Trichster team has been hard at work shooting and getting ready for the TLC conference in April. Sandy Rosenblatt, the woman who recently “came out” with her Huffington Post Article interviewed Trichster director Jillian Corsie for her new blog The (Trich) Opprtunity. Learn more about our director and about Sandy’s new blog

Wow everyone, I don’t even know what to say. As of today we are 120% funded on Seed and Spark and still have 13 days left for funding! Running one successful crowd-funding campaign is hard, but having two is unbelievable! You guys really want this film to be made. We NEED this film to be made. You are making this happen. If I could send a glass of champagne to all of you I would. All of you are what give us the faith we need to keep pursuing this project. We all believe we can make a difference. This started as an idea in my head in college, and to go from one person with a big idea to this is just overwhelming. I can’t thank each of you enough for your encouragement and support. You are why we are making this film. When we come together we CAN make change! To all of you who have been there, thank you so very much. Now- we’ll keep pushing on! This time next year, I hope we have a full feature to give to all of you. Much love!

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About Trichster

The documentary follows the lives of seven trichsters over the course of a year and details their daily struggles with Trichotillomania. What is it like to have trich? How often do people pull out their hair? Why do they do it? How does it affect their friends and loved ones?

We are on a quest to discover how we can make a difference in the trich community by raising awareness, generating interest, and ultimately, allowing those who are silently suffering to come forward and seek help.